Anxiety

Sarah’s Story

Sarah* spent most of her day worrying about everything. There was never a moment of peace in her head.

She worried about her children, the bills, her future with her husband, world events, global warming, and so on!

Recently, Sarah began to experience extreme pain in her stomach. Everything she ate made her sick. Her husband rushed her to the hospital one evening because she was so ill and in pain.

When Sarah went to the ER, the doctor said she had developed an ulcer due to worrying. “Great,” Sarah thought. “Now I have to worry about my health, too!”

Sarah developed panic attacks

These terrible waves of dread would engulf her. Her heart would race, her hands would shake and go cold, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Now she was worried about worrying! Her mind swirled with the thought, “If I worry, it could kill me.”

Sarah knew she needed help, so I started meeting her online. Together, we worked on slowing down, allowing her to find and track her breath, tap out her heartbeat, and use muscle tensing and relaxing to reset the nervous system and avoid panic attacks.

Sarah became confident that she could arrest panic and prevent these horrible attacks.

Fears plagued Sarah

We discussed her deepest fears, the ones her brain would spiral around and around, filling her with dread. We greeted each fear, and Sarah learned to question the fear’s intent.

Some fears were irrational, like “My family doesn’t love me anymore.” Sarah knew this was not true because she and her husband had a deep, loving connection and a great relationship with their two children.

As we questioned her fears, Sarah realized that they came from her family when she was growing up. Her parents consistently gave her feedback that she was not good enough. Sarah was still trying to live up to their impossible expectations.

Other fears were rational, like constantly hitting a zero balance before each paycheck. For these kinds of fears, we discussed strategies to reduce the constant worries. Ultimately, Sarah decided it was time to work with a financial planner.

We discussed fear of the unknown and being okay when the future is unclear. Sarah learned that when her thoughts started swirling into negativity about the future, she could return to the present by finding her body and the room around her and telling herself that the future is unknowable and anything can happen. She worked to shift her thoughts from the worst outcomes to the best results.

Sarah realized in this process that she was always preparing for the worst because it was often that way while growing up. Her mom had anxiety and always focused on the worst possible outcome. She didn’t need to be attached to that anymore because it was not helpful and robbed her of joy.

Sarah’s focus changed

Sarah spent more time connecting with her family and less time worrying about them. She found joy in the little things, and anxiety became less and less important in her life.

Her stomach healed, and she could enjoy food again! She would occasionally experience a flare-up, but she felt like she knew how to take care of her mind when it charged ahead into doom and gloom.

Sarah now loves her life and is excited about the future.

No One Deserves to Live in Fear

Fear will steal your soul. It will rob you of life, liberty, and joy. It makes life an endless cycle of dread, with constant disasters lurking around every corner.

Take your life back! You can be like Sarah and overcome the anxiety that you feel by learning to control negative thoughts and live your life with joy.

Open your heart and mind to the possibility of abundant love and happiness. Make friends with fear and live a courageous life.

Let’s work together toward the dream of a beautiful future filled with hope and joy.

Reach out now.